A software product typically includes multiple files such as executables, binaries, data-files, scripts, content files, and/or configuration files, and so forth. The making of such a software product available for consumer use is often referred to as a “release”. Once released, most of these files could be updated on purpose or maliciously without the permission of the product provider or consumer. Such changes could degrade the functionality of the product, or cause it to act in unintended ways.
Some programs or software systems or products guard against such changes by verifying file signatures. However, this conventional method does not handle all file types and is not generic across all environments.